That Tattoo On Your Shoulder
by WritingWithReason
Summary: Four years and no calls, texts, or any means of communication. Distance, hectic tour and filming schedules, and current relationships drove a wedge between them. And now, a week before one of his old friends' wedding, he sees her sitting at the hotel bar. His heart begins to race as he knows now that he can't stop the need to bring her into his arms. To bring her closer.
1. Lookin' Pretty In a Hotel Bar

He stared at his reflection, analyzing his clothing. The shoulder pads weren't too high and the pants reached low enough so it didn't look like he had outgrown them. The material itself was a dark navy blue and appealed with his skin tone. It was a bonus that it didn't make his hair appear extremely yellow. Personally, he would've gone for a black suit, but it wasn't his decision to make.

Weddings weren't his types of events. In his early twenties, he'd rather be out, at a club or even a casual backyard barbecue. The last wedding he probably could recall was his brother's. Which was at least a good two or three years ago. Even then, he may or may not have gotten a little too wild and got a scolding from his mother. Something a twenty-one year old man would find highly embarrassing, especially in front of his date.

Since then, he swore off weddings. He thought they were cliché and tacky anyway. Though whether he wanted to admit it or not, he still wanted to get married one day.

"When was the last time you legitimately wore a decent suit?" A voice behind him said, their tone was filled with amusement. He turned and saw one of his oldest friends standing in the door frame.

"Dude, to be honest, I don't even know," he turned back to the mirror and chuckled. The redhead nodded as he surveyed the blond in front of him.

"You look good," he said, with a shrug. "But, I hate to break it to you, the best man never looks as good as the groom."

The blond scoffed. "I'll be the best looking best man in the history of weddings. I mean, look at these babies!" He lifted his arms and flexed, causing the shoulder pads to puff up.

With a laugh, the redhead shook his head. "Eh, I've seen better."

The blond rolled his eyes and shook his hair before combing it back with his fingers. He had recently gotten it cut for the wedding and due to the constant comments his fans and family were giving him for it being too long. He learned that lesson the hard way a few years back. He was even compared to a hobo and a lion. The list of nicknames were endless. Some he found completely hilarious; others he had no idea what they meant. Multiple groups of fans loved it and another handful absolutely despised it and begged him to go back to his _Austin Moon_ haircut. Suddenly a wave of nostalgia hit him.

"I can't believe you're getting married, man," he faced the redhead, who took a deep breath and nodded with a smile.

"Crazy right?" Calum took a seat on the stool in the corner of the room. "I swear it was just yesterday that Dez and Austin were breaking stuff in the music store."

They shared a laugh, recalling their younger selves portraying reckless teenage boys. Granted, Ross would say he was still pretty reckless, but as much as he didn't want to admit it, he was older and a bit more sensible.

"You know," Ross slid the blazer off of him. "I always thought I'd actually be the one getting married first."

"Beat you to it, buddy," Calum chuckled and patted his shoulder. Then, lifting his right wrist, he checked his silver watch. "Okay, we've got to go to the venue and make sure everything is set or else Celesta will have my ass."

Ross nodded and left to the dressing room to put on his original clothes. He met back with Calum in the front after returning his tux to Michael, the assistant that found it amusing that he accidentally said "Texas" instead of "tuxes" upon walking up to the counter. After all these years, he still couldn't say it.

Calum was probably the one that he had kept in touch with the most since the show ended. Granted that their girlfriends were best friends, they got to see each other more often than he did with the girls. He talked to Raini every once in awhile, but both of their schedules got hectic with his constant filming and touring and her producing and filming as well. And he knew that his quirky brunette best friend blew up in the music industry. He was proud of her. He really was. He wanted to call her. So many damn times. But he never did.

They always tried to reunite, but time never permitted them to. There was no doubt that a reunion was a must the second the show ended. The fans constantly pleaded for one and some drew the conclusion that they purposefully didn't meet up just to torture them. The majority were even convinced that the crew did have a secret reunion, but just withheld from sharing the evidence. He recalled the amount of times the fans accused them of "depriving them of joy" by not posting many pictures throughout the final season(s) of Austin & Ally. But he will admit that they weren't entirely wrong. He knew that each of the cast - and crew- kept some pictures locked up in their camera rolls. Even he had a few stored in his phone.

He and Calum walked to Calum's car in the lot with the redhead constantly sipping his coffee. Ross pulled out his cell phone and clicked to check his Twitter. His mentions continuously refreshing with more and more new tweets from fans and other people.

"People tweet me the weirdest things. Do people still actually say 'daddy'?" He cringed. He always thought that was the weirdest thing to become a trend. Weirder than being 'shipped' with one of your best friends.

"I've had my fair share of crazy fan tweets," Calum shook his head and laughed.

The blond continued to scroll through when several in a row caught his eye.

 ** _"rossr5 lauramarano calumworthy raini_rodriguez you're old omfg #FourYearsSinceAustinAndAlly"_**

 ** _"Holy shit. Has it really? #FourYearsSinceAustinAndAlly rossr5 lauramarano calumworthy raini_rodriguez"_**

 ** _"4 years & still no damn reunion I better see all 4 of your butts at C's wedding or i'm suing. rossr5 lauramarano raini_rodriguez calumworthy"_**

"Dude...has it really been four years since the show ended?"

Calum opened the calendar on his phone and nodded. "Well, I'll be damned. January 10th."

"That's crazy. The fans want a reunion at the wedding," he chuckled.

"Who knows. They might."

Well Ross knew that it would be possible in a way. He and Calum would definitely be there. Raini confirmed that she would most likely be able to make it. But the one person he really wanted to see again...he never found out whether or not would be making an appearance, much to his disappointment.

After his invitation arrived, he immediately checked if she could (possibly) be going. According to one of her updates accounts, she was currently on her long-awaited tour. And by the time the wedding came around, would still be on tour. In Asia. So much for that.

The two of them reached Calum's silver Prius and spent the rest of the way to the hotel reminiscing of their Disney past for the first few minutes.

The hotel was grand but not excessively overwhelming. It was one of the older ones in the city and Celesta thought it would be perfect and big enough to hold all of their guests. She had a fairly large family as did Calum. Together, they had a big group of friends.

Ross heard from Calum that they had about seventy-five to a hundred people coming. But he said he didn't mind. He was planning to do this only once.

"Might as well go all out, right?" Calum said, shrugging with a smile tugging the corners of his lips.

Ross had the same thought process. If he was going to get married, once would be enough for him. So he needed to make it count.

The lobby was elegant and had a vintage vibe to it. With a giant chandelier hanging down the center, the whole room glowed as guests checked in and out and the bride to be was pacing back and fourth double - or triple - checking everything.

"Oh thank God, you two are back," Celesta placed her left hand on her chest, revealing her ring. Calum went for a simple princess cut diamond, but she wore it well. "Babe, I need you to make sure the caterer got my menu revisions. Apparently, my cousin 'recently went vegetarian' and decided not to tell me until last week."

The redhead kissed her forehead and nodded. "Gotcha covered, boss." He patted Ross' shoulder before exiting the lobby.

His fiancée turned to the blond. "How was the fitting?"

Ross nodded, giving the frantic girl some relief. "Yeah they just need to tweek one thing and I'll have it in two days."

"Good. Good," she clapped her hands together before checking her phone. "I'm going to verify with my parents that they're arriving tomorrow. See you later."

And with that, she swiveled on her heels and walked the opposite direction. Ross chuckled lightly. He remembered when his sister went all bridezilla when her wedding drew closer. He remembered asking Ellington if he was certain that he could handle her after all it was over.

 _"Eh. I've known you guys for nine years. I loved your sister for more than half of those. I'm used to it_ ," The drummer straightened his tux and smiled at him.

With nothing else to do, Ross wandered into the lounge room of the hotel. He checked the time, figured it wasn't too early and ordered a drink.

Mid-sip, the blond's eyes traveled to his left to a silhouette that appeared in his peripheral vision. Once the figure came into focus, he nearly choked on his beverage.

Maybe it was too early for alcohol. Maybe he was just hallucinating because he spent half of the day already recalling the four years they had spent together on that damn tv show. Maybe he was just daydreaming of what he really _really_ wanted to happen today. He had to be hallucinating, right?

She was supposed to be on tour. She was supposed to be in a different country, across an ocean. She was supposed to be in Asia. But she was here. Right next to him. Well, give or take a few seats over, but that wasn't important. What was important was the fact that they were in the same room again since God knows how long.

Has she noticed that he was there? Should he say something? Should he just nonchalantly take his drink and walk away?

 _No. Not the last one. Definitely not the last one. Just say something, you idiot. Say 'hi' or anything!_

Before he could stop himself, he slid off of the stool and chugged down the rest of the drink, causing it to coat his throat with a mild burning sensation. His mouth felt dry and his lips parted. Unfortunately, no words slipped from them. All the noise that he managed to release was a small squeak.

As if in slow motion, her eyes found her way to his and he felt as if the whole world came to a halt. They were the same chocolate brown eyes he stared into countlessly scene after scene for four years. They still twinkled with happiness and hope years later. Her cheeks were rosy and plump as her lips curved upwards. Her lips. Oh God. His lips and her's had crossed paths many times in the past. Several of those times weren't supposed to happen. The only downside was that he had to pretend like he was 'in character'.

"Hey, Ross," the way that his name rolled off her tongue electrified something inside of him. He wanted, no needed, her to say it again. It was music to his ears.

"Hey, Laura," his voice found its strength again. It came out soft and slightly hoarse. He rubbed his fingers against his palm, which was suddenly damp. He was sweating. He was palm sweating. He never palm sweated. Ever. "W-what are you doing here?"

As soon as those words left his lips, he immediately wanted to slap his sweaty palm on his forehead. _Idiot_. The brunette looked around, motioning to the several floral arrangements Celesta picked from that morning.

"I decided to crash a wedding," a playful tone hinted in her voice. The kind that made him want to scream because he found it so damn adorable and sexy. _Play it cool, Lynch. Damnit_. "What about you? What brings you to this fine establishment?"

"I'm the best man of said wedding," he said. _Good. Good. Playful banter. Keep it up_. "I wasn't expecting to see you here." _And you killed it_.

Slight disappointment mixed with confusion made their way onto her features. A wave of guilt washed over him.

"I'm still friends with Calum, too, Ross," she said. She shifted uncomfortably on her stool. "Why wouldn't you expect me to be here?"

Again, his voice box malfunctioned. _Say something_. "Well, I...it's just that I heard that you were like performing a show in Manila or something. I didn't think you could make it."

Laura's arms crossed over her chest as he saw her become guarded and defensive. "I make time for my friends' important events. And it's not that difficult to hop on a plane…" _Ouch_. He knew he deserved that.

The number of times he couldn't make it to one of their premieres or album releases… At the time, the thought there was nothing he could do. Now, he knew he had choices that he could've made. Choices that could've kept him from losing touch with people that had impacted him greatly.

Her eyebrows knitted together as she waited for his response. He honestly didn't know what to say because he knew she was right.

"Guess not," he mumbled. Ross rubbed the back of his neck, unsure of what to say next. An awkward pause fell between them as Laura sipped her drink.

Ross figured that this was a better end to their conversation compared to their last one. It ended with a lot of yelling, Laura packing up her things in the back of her car, and moved to the other side of the country. He should've told her right then and there that he didn't want her to leave. He should've got in his car and went after her the moment she left. But he didn't.

Their silence was broken by Celesta sighing in frustration. The former Disney stars turned their heads simultaneously at the bride-to-be. She was standing by an arrangement of flowers. Calum was beside her, consoling her by rubbing her shoulders.

"These still aren't the right flowers!" She said, gesturing to the light pink carnations. "I ordered peonies."

"It's okay, babe," Calum reassured her. "There's still a week before the wedding and besides, these are only the test flowers. It's just so we know what the final arrangement will look like with the color scheme. We can just go to the florist and tell them to make sure they know the actual flowers you wanted."

Laura chuckled. "Asking a florist if they know flowers. I've done that and she slightly got offended."

Ross let out a small smile while glancing at the brunette. He was glad the awkwardness had slipped passed them.

"Right now?" Celesta questioned, biting her lip. "But I have to get my final dress fitting in an hour."

Calum looked around and his eyes landed on Laura, who was still sitting on the stool with her legs crossed. Then his eyes wandered to the blond beside her. He was resting on his elbows against the bar.

"Hey, Laura, you're the same size as Celesta, right?"

The girl slightly straightened and cleared her throat. "Well, um, I guess?"

An idea had popped up in the redhead's mind. "Cel, why doesn't Laura go to your fitting for you while we're at the florist?"

"I'd be glad to be at the fitting, but shouldn't the bride, y'know, be there too? She is the one putting on the dress," Laura said, her eyebrow propped up in confusion. She watched as the redhead rolled his eyes.

"I meant, you go in place of Celesta. You two are the same size anyway. It's killing two birds with one stone. Trust me." He smiled, proud of his latest thought.

The two women eyes Calum and then glanced at each other. Celesta sighed and shrugged.

"I guess that could work," she turned to the brunette. "Are you okay with it?"

The ex-Disney starlet nodded slowly, not knowing what exactly she had gotten herself into.

"Great," Calum wrapped his arm around his soon-to-be-wife. He took out his phone from his pocket during the process. "You guys can take my car."

Ross stiffened. He took a quick look at the brunette to see how she reacted to their friend's words.

"Um, 'you guys'?" A lump formed in his throat.

"Yeah, Ross will drive you," Calum smiled and tossed his car keys to the blond, who caught them with ease. Ross noticed a hint of amusement on his old friend's lips.

 _This should be good_.

 **Guess who's back. Back again. Lecx is back. Tell a friend. No but seriously, I've been wanting to write this since this song came out and I wanted it to be written well and thought out. Shoutout to my favorite Brazilian and my best friend, Normah for reading this over and over and for also helping me with parts I wasn't sure of. I'm trying to get back into my writing groove so bare with me.**

 **This is my first actual 'Raura' fanfic on here so it's a bit of a risk for me. Let me know what you think.**

 **xx**


	2. Author's Note

**hello, hello! it's me. i know after like what? 50 million years? i could tell a really long story about how i got super busy with senior year last year, my job, my dinosaur of a laptop not working properly, etc. but i'm just gonna spare you some time and effort.**

 **my main point of this author's note really is to say that I'M BACK! or at least if you want me to be back. one of my new years resolutions is to get back into writing because i love it so much and i really wanted to finish the stories that i started. i even got a new laptop and everything. including some more story ideas, but let's just start off with the ones that already exist. i'm even thinking of rewriting a couple of the old ones too ;)**

 **now i know that it's been a year since the show ended *cries* and the fandom is a little...dead? more or less. so if you don't want me to continue on, that's totally okay. but if you do, that's totally okay, too! just let me know! i'm going to leave a poll on my profile for you guys to vote on which story you want me to update first/most.**

 **much love xx**

 **lecx**


End file.
